I have a new 2011 accent and the AC is just not very cold. I mean it's sort of cold but not as cold as it should be: I left it on high for my hour drive (city) and we were still kind of warm. Has anyone had this problem or know something about ac's that could explain what is going on-please don't tell me this is just the way these cars are. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

Are you using inside air, or outside air ?

What is your avg ambient outside air temp and humidity ?

 

What color is the car and how long was it sitting in the sun before you began driving it? I know it tales a LONG time for my dark blue Tucson to cool off when it's been sitting in the sun all day.

Also, what setting do you use for the A/C? "MAX A/C" or do you jus push the "A/C" button? Is the temp control dial all the way to the far end of the cool (blue) range?

City driving makes it hard for the A/C to work because the engine isn't spinning the compressor as much and there is very little air flow over the condenser.

 

I had my '10 Accent into the dealer 2x due to the poor a/c performance in city driving. What seems to happen with mine (I have a manual transmission) is while I'm shifting gears when speeding up, the compressor clicks off for 2-3 secs, then re-engages, and clicks off again (light throttle). The first trip, the dealer replaced the a/c compressor becouse they thought it was "locking up" (yeah right). The problem was still there, but that dealer denied anything still wrong with it. So I went to another dealer, who was not condescending, and actually replicated what I was talking about. They put a vacuum on the system for 15min, then recharged it. They found it was 1kg low on refridgerant (system holds about 3kgs), although having a full charge did not change the performance. The system operating pressures were normal. They contacted "Hyundai tech support" about this issue. Hyundai says since the system is "working", there's nothing they can do. My theory on this issue is that the ecm is programmed to disengage the compressor while shifting to improve fuel mileage. I forgot which website I stumbled upon that mentions Verna owners (same as Accent, sold in India/middle east as the Verna) also complaining about this issue, and some sort of software update to correct this issue on those cars. Nothing about this on Accents sold here. Try using "recirculate" when using a/c while driving in the city, that helps tons with cooling. After mine has been on a while, it will start to freeze me out, more so if I'm staying in the same gear for a while steady crusing, even when a/c is drawing in fresh air. Go to a autoparts store, and buy a a/c vent thermometer, and see what the vent temps are. Post back with results, and ambiant outside temps. Mine will put out 62 degrees, med-high fan speed, and outside temp of 95 degrees at idle. It modulates up and down while shifting, but it does it faster than what a mercury thermometer can register.

 

So, embarissingly, I didn't have the recirculate air button pushed in. As soon as I turned this on it was nice and cold, especially on these hot, humid DC days. Thank you for the insight. I went into a bit of panic having a brand new car with AC that wasn''t cutting it! Thanks again for the replies.